Another large Iowa credit union has announced layoffs as concerns about a weakening mortgage market persist.
Collins Community Credit Union in Cedar Rapids said Monday that it laid off 38 employees, primarily in its mortgage lending division. In September, GreenState Credit Union in North Liberty cut 42 employees, or about 5% of its workforce.
The $1.6 billion-asset Collins Community said the market has quickly shifted, particularly in regards to rising interest rates and the slowing of consumer demand for mortgage loans and refinances.
“That means our credit union needs to respond to the market and needs of our members and be good stewards of our membership’s ownership,” Mai-Linh Hoang, Collins Community’s vice president of corporate strategy and marketing, said in an email to American Banker. “We have taken an active role in providing resources to affected individuals with a separation package and finding new employment opportunities.”
Hoang said the other end of the restructuring is putting resources into the service areas that are growing, such as the underbanked and underserved market.
“These are the times they need their credit union the most. We are working on programs to meet the needs of low income, which many traditional financial institutions may not be able to serve,” Hoang said.
GreenState, which has $10.7 billion of assets, said the employees affected by its own layoffs worked primarily in commercial banking and mortgage lending-related positions.
Collins Community earned $775,000 in the first six months of 2022, an 83% decrease compared to a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.
